The bloom has yet to return for Hawaii flower and nursery plant farmers, who as a group did less business last year and have yet to recover from the Great Recession seven years ago.
A new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that revenue from flower and nursery plant growers statewide slipped 7 percent last year to $67 million from $72 million in 2013.
That was the industry’s lowest point in 18 years, and continues a string of lackluster results since revenue peaked at $109 million in 2007 just before the recession. The prior low was just under $67 million in 1997.
Eric Tanouye, president of Green Point Nurseries in Hilo, said 2014 was disappointing because where were expectations for a recovery given the growing economy and increased marketing efforts.
“We thought we were going to start showing results,” he said. “I was hoping we could at least show a little improvement — maybe 2 percent.”
Tanouye said he hopes that perhaps the lower revenue estimate stems from farms neglecting to respond to the USDA, which uses surveys to compile its estimated figures that oftentimes are later adjusted. However, Tropical Storm Iselle last year wreaked havoc on some Hawaii island farms and probably had a significant negative effect on plant production and sales.
The report, compiled in cooperation with the state Department of Agriculture, said a total number of farms growing flowers and nursery products was not available. The last time the report included a farm count was 2011 when there were 970 farms.
The segment of the market with the biggest decline last year was cut flowers, which suffered a 27 percent drop in sales to $5.2 million from $7.1 million the year before.
Orchid growers, which represent the largest single category in the industry defined by the USDA, saw revenue tick up 2 percent to $14.9 million from $14.7 million.
USDA includes a wide variety of plant and flower growers in its report, including producers of lei flowers, plant rentals, sod and trees.
Tanouye said the industry in recent years has had to grapple with more than just the cutback in consumer spending during the recession. He said there was a problem with nematodes in soil that interrupted plant exports for a year or so, bad weather and a shift in business practices by one of the industry’s biggest outlets.
Big-box retailers, Tanouye said, stopped paying farmers for all the plants acquired for store garden departments about five or so years ago, and instead switched to paying farmers for plants when consumers buy them and not paying for plants that can’t be kept alive. “It was a whole model change,” he said. “It really hurt us.”
All these hurdles, according to Tanouye, whose family farm dates to 1957, have inhibited growers from rebounding along with many other sectors of Hawaii’s economy, including tourism, real estate and construction. A rebound, Tanouye hopes, will come this year.
